Greg responds...

No. That was artistic license. No other possible explanation.

Greg responds...

I loved what I was doing. I do occasionally have a dirty mind. But I'm happy to fill it with details left off screen. All the themes I wanted to address I could. I did. At least through the first 66. Down the road? Who knows?

Greg responds...

These were business decisions -- not emotional or "how it sounds" decisions.

Initially, Buena Vista only ordered thirteen because Gargoyles and "Action Friday" was an experiment.

Keep in mind that the first season's thirteen episodes represents thirteen weeks of airing the show once a week. That's enough to fill "one quarter" of the year. (52 weeks in a year divided by 4.)

For the second season, they decided that they wanted the series to air FIVE days a week. So multiply 13 weeks by five episodes/week and you get a total of 65 episodes. We had 13 made already. So subtract 13 from that 65 total and you get the second season order of 52.

The third season wasn't produced for syndication. It was aired on ABC's Saturday Morning. And for ABC, it was going to be a bit distinct. (Thus the Goliath Chronicles title and the little sermons Goliath gave at the head of each episode. Neither of which I cared for.) So they started over. Saturday is once a week, so they ordered 13 episodes to cover the 13 week quarter.

Now the obvious question is why 13 weeks? What's so magical about one quarter of the year? Why not 1/8 of the year or 1/2? I don't have a good answer for this, but at that time the conventional wisdom was that kids needed new material in the fall through Christmas. After that, stations could get away with airing reruns.

It's actually gotten worse since. Five-day-a-week series used to be 65 episode orders. Now they've dropped to like 39. It's not so much that conventional wisdom has changed -- rather the economics have gotten so bad, that 39 is the lowest number that networks and studios think they can get away with. Until recently it was forty. Eight weeks of five new episodes a week instead of the old 13 weeks. We did 40 Starship Troopers, for example. (More or less.) But Team Atlantis only ordered 39. There's NO rhyme or reason to that number that I can see other than the fact that it is one less than forty. Thus having mentally adjusted the audience to 40 down from 52 down from 65, they've now chipped one more episode off the total order.

It sucks.

What was your question?

Greg responds...

1. Usually, two real drafts. Exceptions abounded I believe.

2. Lots o' folk. I don't have the list with me. But take a look at the credits.

3. Well, Michael was our only story editor the first season. And one of four the second. He approved all his episodes from his writers. I approved his work. Frank and Dennis and Bob looked on too. And one or more Disney execs had to give the final go ahead. But if you're asking who was ultimately responsible for the writing side of things, that would be me. Blame me for what you don't like, cuz nothing went through without my approval.

Greg responds...

Edge - No.

DJ - I was beginning to suspect that everything would eventually be used.

Greg responds...

We started creating the show in 1991. As a comedy-adventure. (Take a look at the "Original Development File" archive at ASK GREG.)

We failed to sell it to Michael Eisner. Then we tried again as an Action-Drama. We failed to sell it again.

We reworked the pitch and tried a third time. (The show didn't change this time, just the way we pitched it.) Third time was the charm. He bought off on it. And we went into production. But that process took about two years total. (We only got to meet with Eisner once every six months in those days.) That brings us to 1993. We then had ten months to produce the first thirteen episodes (on a sliding schedule). Which takes us to the fall of '94. Which is when we premeired.

(But what are you implying with the word "censor"?)

Greg responds...

Well, the obvious real world answer is that we're using artistic license all over the damn place.

But in the garg universe, I think you've answered your own question. If they don't want to change, they can fight it for a few seconds. Slow the process a bit. But just a bit.

Greg responds...

No. Or at least largely no.

Xanatos was literally designed years before Jonathan Frakes was cast in the role.

Elisa's basic design didn't change much either, but we did send pictures of Salli Richardson to Mr. Takeuchi, the character designer who was working on her final model in Japan.

The human versions of Goliath, Hudson, Lex, Brooklyn and Broadway were influenced by the actors who played them. But only a bit. We had to stay faithful to the gargoyle base forms.

Greg responds...

Start by taking a look at the archives for a good answer.

At this point, I might suggest that the most pragmatic thing people could do is to petition Disney for a DVD release. Politely.

Greg responds...

Can't you see the difference?

Raven's "fake clan" had, what, like three members?

We didn't have the man-hours to design 36 separate gargoyles for Avalon. But we did design some members of the Avalon clan. Angela, Gabriel, Ophelia, Boudicca, at least.